Tennis-Djokovic hunts Grand Slam record, Gauff and Swiatek in action at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Jan 18 (Reuters) – The first round of the Australian Open continues on Monday with Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek beginning their campaigns and Novak Djokovic resuming his quest for a record 25th Grand Slam title.

TOP MEN’S MATCH: DJOKOVIC V MARTINEZ

Djokovic has been stuck on 24 Grand Slam titles since winning the U.S. Open in 2023 but the Serb will see Melbourne Park as his best chance to win another major and move past Margaret Court to take sole possession of the record.

A 10-times Australian Open champion, Djokovic is coming into the season’s opening Grand Slam with little preparation after he withdrew from a warm-up tournament in Adelaide. His last match was during his title-winning run in Athens in November.

“I took some time off, and obviously took more time to rebuild my body,” the 38-year-old said on Saturday ahead of his first-round tie against Spaniard Pedro Martinez.

“I understand that in the last couple of years, that’s what changed the most for me is it takes more time to rebuild, and it also takes more time to reset or recover.”

TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: GAUFF V RAKHIMOVA

Gauff arrives with some momentum from the United Cup, where she won three of four matches to help the United States reach the semi-finals of the mixed-team tournament.

However, her serve remains a concern and she continues to produce too many double faults. The American has 28 so far this year already.

“I want to give it my all in each match,” she told reporters on Friday. “I feel like that stemmed from my serve, having good days and really bad days. I think the more that stroke becomes more consistent, the more my results will become more consistent.”

Gauff faces Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round, whom she beat 6-4 6-0 in the China Open in September.

SWIATEK TAKES ON YUAN

Swiatek is gunning for the career Grand Slam following her Wimbledon triumph in 2025, though the Pole has never made it past the semi-finals in Melbourne.

She will look to hit the ground running against Yuan Yue and bounce back from some average performances at the United Cup where Poland claimed the title despite the six-times Grand Slam champion losing her singles matches in the semis and final.

Swiatek beat China’s Yuan 6-0 6-3 in their only previous encounter in Beijing last year.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON MONDAY

Here is the order of play on the main showcourts on the second day of the Australian Open (prefix number denotes seeding):

ROD LAVER ARENA

Day session (0030 GMT/1130 AEDT)

3-Coco Gauff (U.S.) v Kamilla Rakhimova (Uzbekistan)

Mackenzie McDonald (U.S.) v 6-Alex de Minaur (Australia)

Night session (0800 GMT/1900 AEDT)

Yuan Yue (China) v 2-Iga Swiatek (Poland)

Pedro Martinez (Spain) v 4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

MARGARET COURT ARENA

Day session (0030 GMT/1130 AEDT)

11-Daniil Medvedev (Russia) v Jesper De Jong (Netherlands)

Simona Waltert (Switzerland) v 4-Amanda Anisimova (U.S.)

Night session (0800 GMT/1900 AEDT)

Donna Vekic (Croatia) v 8-Mirra Andreeva (Russia)

Mattia Bellucci (Italy) v 12-Casper Ruud (Norway)

JOHN CAIN ARENA

Day session (0000 GMT/1100 AEDT)

Nuno Borges (Portugal) v 7-Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada)

6-Jessica Pegula (U.S.) v Anastasia Zakharova (Russia)

Night session (0600 GMT/1700 AEDT)

Yuliia Starodubtseva (Ukraine) v Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia)

Night session (0730 GMT/1830 AEDT)

Alexei Popyrin (Australia) v Alexandre Muller (France)

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)